


'Til the End of the Night

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon-Typical Violence, Damsels in Distress, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-03 23:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12156555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: Poe's recklessness has a tendency to get him into trouble. Luckily he has a boyfriend who doesn't mind playing the hero to come to his rescue.





	'Til the End of the Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jiokra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jiokra/gifts).



> Yes, I took the title from that song. Yes, that one. The Bonnie Tyler one. I have no shame.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Poe breathed out as Finn picked the lock on his cell.

“This is basically a repeat of how we actually first met, Poe.”

“More low-tech though.” Poe slid through the door as soon as Finn got it open. “Thanks, buddy. Let’s go steal a ship?”

Finn tried not to but he couldn’t help himself; he matched Poe’s ridiculous, infectious grin. “Let’s go steal a ship.”

-

See, the thing was, Poe had this bad habit of getting into trouble. If there was a stupid, reckless, heroic thing to do, Poe would do it. And, yeah, Finn had been accused of the same, but at least Finn thought about things first. Poe just jumped in without even looking.

“It all worked out fine,” Poe said later, shimmying out of his pants in their quarters.

“You say that every time.”

“Because every time it’s fine.” Poe smiled brightly and stepped forward so he could kiss Finn’s mouth.

“And if it’s not fine? The next time, or the time after that?” Finn rubbed his thumb over Poe’s hip, bare skin and the soft, thin material of his underwear.

“Impossibility. I’ve got you, don’t I?”

Finn sighed and let Poe nuzzle his neck. “Yeah, you’ve got me.”

-

“How many’s that now, Poe?” Snap asked, passing around glasses of moonshine. “Lucky Finn’s here to rescue your ass.”

“Well, it’s a good ass, I’m sure he’s partial to it,” Poe said, grinning.

“Fair point,” Finn agreed, shifting to accommodate said ass in his lap when Poe sat down. “I’d still prefer it to be in jeopardy less often. I mean, if you’re asking my opinion. Not that anyone ever does.”

Poe kissed Finn’s temple. Finn squeezed his arms around Poe’s middle.

“You know what this makes you, Dameron,” Jess said, raising her glass before taking a swallow.

“Lucky as hell?”

“The damsel.”

Poe’s forehead creased in a line between his eyebrows. “The damsel?”

“Yeah, in distress? Didn’t your parents ever read you bedtime stories?”

“Mostly my mother told me stories about General Organa.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “That explains so much.” She looked to Snap, who shrugged, and seemed to think better of asking Rey. “Oh, come on. Maybe it’s a Dandoran thing. Anyway, the damsel in distress is this beautiful woman, most of the time she’s a princess, and she’s always getting into trouble and the hero’s got to rescue her.”

“Why?” Rey said, frowning.

“I admit the gender roles are limiting,” Jess agreed. “The stories are old. But the point is, Dameron’s the damsel.”

“Hey, if it means Finn sweeps me off in his arms, I’m all for it,” Poe said.

Finn pinched him but Poe only laughed and kissed his temple again, his lips and breath warm on Finn’s skin.

-

The scene on the space station was chaotic as Finn hurried out the back of the freighter. He and Snap were only supposed to have been picking Poe up but instead they found themselves in the middle of a kriffing evac.

“Trust Dameron to make even a simple task hard,” Snap muttered as he came up behind Finn. “Find him? I’m gonna see what help I can offer.”

“Yeah,” Finn agreed, half-distracted as he thought about Poe. It had been meant to be just a fact-finding mission but some leaked intel in the hands of the First Order meant that a Star Destroyer was on its way.

They needed to be gone before it arrived.

He ran through the corridors, mostly in the opposite direction of the flow of traffic, searching for Poe. He found him near a shuttle bay, helping coordinate the evacuation.

“Poe!”

Poe’s lips tilted faintly upwards when his gaze alighted on Finn. He gently nudged a few beings towards emptier shuttles and strode over to Finn. “So this didn’t go as planned.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Nothing goes to plan when you’re involved.”

Then the floor beneath them rocked with impact, as though something had exploded nearby. Poe stumbled forward slightly and Finn caught him, bracing him upright.

“Your ride’s waiting,” Finn said. “We’ve gotta go.”

“No can do,” Poe said, shaking his head. “Not until I get them out of here.”

“Poe--”

“I promised them! It’s my fault the First Order is even here.”

“Damn it, Poe,” Finn muttered, but he knew there was no breaking through Poe’s stubbornness, and Finn wasn’t sure he wanted to anyway. This was just Poe, and Finn loved him, self-sacrificing streak and all.

In any case, it wasn’t like Finn was eager to let the First Order get its hands on everyone. He knew what would happen, and he also knew it would be bad for the Resistance.

And for Poe.

“Let’s get moving, then,” Finn said, and was rewarded by Poe’s big smile.

They had just pushed the last bystander into a shuttle when Snap came running up, out of breath. “Okay, guys, ship’s leaving with or without your asses.”

Finn knew Snap actually would never leave without their asses, but he took the point. He shoved Poe down the corridor. “This is a rescue, remember? Let me finish it.”

Poe took Finn’s hand with a cheeky grin and started running, the sound of someone shouting orders in the distance behind them.

“Try not to cut it so close next time,” Snap said, and Finn knew better than to dispute that there would be a next time.

-

The surface of the planet was rocky and barren, cliffs and canyons, which at least made it easier to scan for Poe. Finn pushed the speeder bike faster and said through his comm, “Jess, anything?”

“Not yet, I-- Oh, I’ve got him. Finn, cut due east, you’re maybe a couple of klicks out from him. I’m gonna see if I can’t take out some of these guys but it’s close; I don’t want to hit Poe.”

“Please don’t hit Poe,” Finn urged, upping the speed as much as he could.

“I’m not, I--” Jess swore. “Sorry, Finn, I’m getting fire from the sky, I’ve gotta deal with these TIEs. The commander’s all yours.”

“I’m almost to him.”

Finn saw the troopers first and then Poe, wedged into a crevice in the side of a mountain, firing down. Finn swooped the bike up and in and Poe took a flying leap onto the back of it, sprawling half across the back.

“Okay?” Finn called.

“I’m gonna be one solid bruise, I think, but I’m good. Thanks for the save, buddy.” Finn could hear him fire a few shots out of his blaster. “We’re about to have company. Bikes.”

“Figures.”

Poe slid forward, crowding up against Finn and then sliding around the side, angling his foot towards the pedal.

“Hey, what the hell, I can fly myself, you know--”

Still aiming to jostle his way to the front of the bike, Poe said, “You’re a better shot; I’m a better pilot.”

“Won’t matter when we crash ‘cause no one’s hands are on the stick.” Finn took the point, though, and let Poe crawl over him, carefully moving back out of the way once Poe had control.

“You should know I’m a better contortionist than that,” Poe said, a grin in his voice.

“Yeah, remind me later,” Finn said, and took aim at their pursuers.

Keeping his balance on the bike as Poe zipped over the terrain wasn’t the easiest of feats, particularly considering he was mostly turned around. There were four troopers still in pursuit but Finn took care of one with two precise hits; his speeder bike skidded straight into his nearest companion.

One explosion later and they were down to two.

“Hang tight,” Poe shouted, veering sharply to avoid a spray of fire. “I’m going into that ravine.”

“Aw, kriff,” Finn said, glancing forwards. Poe _would_ take them into the narrowest, most dangerous-looking piece of landscape he could find.

“We’ll lose them faster this way,” he claimed, and Finn couldn’t really argue.

The two troopers left were skilled pilots, it seemed, and Finn was having trouble getting a decent shot off. By design Poe was keeping far from a steady course, so as to make for a more difficult target, scraping close enough to either side that Finn could reach out and touch the rock. The advantages gained by that also made it more challenging for Finn. He hit one stormtrooper with a glancing blow to the shoulder, in the gap between his armor, but it slowed him only briefly.

“I’m going to swing back around,” Poe said, the only warning Finn got before Poe took the bike up, over, and back, coming around behind the troopers and nearly losing Finn in the process.

“Kriffing hell,” Finn said, righting himself, and firing to bring down one stormtrooper before he had the chance to reconfigure himself.

One left. He was a reckless fucker, kindred spirits with Poe, maybe, and sped in straight for them, firing. Poe wove in and out, energy blasts grazing the side of the bike, and Finn aimed over Poe’s shoulder.

The trooper went down, and Poe narrowly avoided crashing into the bike. He took them through the ravine and set them down on the other side.

Finn got off with relief, watching Poe swing his leg over. He holstered his blaster and said, “Blast, Poe, you--”

Interruption came in the form of Poe flinging himself at Finn a bit too enthusiastically, knocking them both off their feet.

“Oh,” Finn groaned from his back.

“Sorry,” Poe said, expression rueful as he looked down at Finn, sprawled over his chest. “Sorry.”

“My back,” Finn complained, and Poe’s face creased with concern.

“Did I hurt you? Is it your scar? Finn, let me--”

Finn slid his fingers up Poe’s neck into his hair. “Nah, it’s fine, honestly. I’ll live.”

“Oh. Okay. You’re sure?”

“Poe. I’m not an invalid.”

Poe’s expression relaxed. He leaned in for a kiss. “Good. Because I still have to remind you how flexible I am.”

Finn laughed and stroked his fingers through Poe’s hair, enjoying the heavy weight of him. He could forgive getting the wind knocked out of him – and maybe a few extra bruises – for this.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy Poe’s gratitude in the aftermath of every rescue, not to mention the heady effects of adrenaline and _fuck, fuck, he’s safe, it’s okay, we’re okay._

“How’s my squad? We should get back and help--”

Which was when Jessika Pava’s voice crackled over the comm. “Finn? Finn, are you there?”

Scrambling up, Finn and Poe both raced back over to the speeder bike. “Here,” Finn said. “I’ve got Poe, he’s fine.”

“Great. We’re all good here too, just meet us at the rendezvous?”

“Got it.”

“You owe your boyfriend a drink when we get back to base, Commander.”

“Don’t worry, Pava, I’ll be giving him more than a drink,” Poe said with a smirk Jess couldn’t see but could probably hear.

Her groan came through loud and clear. “Gross, Poe, details I did not need.”

“Yeah, whatever, Pava, I know you’re just jealous of my rousing sex life.”

“Fuck you, Commander. See you soon.”

Finn slid in behind Poe on the back of the speeder bike, arms around his waist, leaning his chin on Poe’s shoulder. “You can give me those details,” he suggested, and felt Poe’s laugh rumble all the way through him.

-

Finn was late arriving to the party, having been caught up in a report to General Organa. Honestly he still wasn’t sure why he even had to go; it wasn’t like he was all that important in the Resistance. He understood why Poe was there, but he doubted his own usefulness. Still, it was the general’s request so it wasn’t like he was going to say no.

He felt awkward in his new clothes, acquired just for this. The general had an acquaintance who provided clothes for missions sometimes, for undercover work (and sometimes, apparently, for fancy gigs like this), and had put her in touch with Finn. Poe had gone with, helping him pick out something nice. Finn liked remembering the look on Poe’s face as he had tried on the formalwear, like Finn was the best thing he had ever seen.

Then he had complained that he had to wear his Navy dress uniform, which he proclaimed the itchiest piece of druk anyone in the galaxy had ever possessed. He had been easily appeased, though, when Finn told him he looked handsome in it, and even better out of it.

Finn found Poe in the midst of a crowd of admirers, the center of attention. His smile was as charming as ever and Finn didn’t think anyone but him would be able to tell that really, Poe wanted to be anywhere but there.

“Commander,” Finn said, striding over.

Again, Finn didn’t think anyone but him would be able to see the immense gratitude Poe exhibited at the interruption. “Finn! You all know Finn, of course.”

“The famous defector,” said an older Togruta. “Paving the way for others to escape the hold of the First Order.”

Finn felt his ears heat up. “Just doing what I thought was right.”

 _Saving my ass,_ Finn thought. _And Poe’s._

Poe looped his arm around Finn’s waist, casually possessive. “Shame he’s got such terrible taste in men, though. I mean, shame for him, amazing for me.”

Everyone laughed, just as Poe had meant for them to.

“Afraid I have to steal my boyfriend,” Finn said in apology, dialing up the regret in his voice. “Message from the general, very important, you know how it is.”

“Don’t let it be said we held back the Resistance’s best operatives,” a humanoid woman said.

“Wonderful to meet you all,” Poe said, gifting them with his radiant smile, making eye contact with each of them. “I hope this won’t be goodbye for long.”

More than a couple of the group seemed to wish that rather too fervently. Finn tried not to seem too obviously amused.

“My hero,” Poe murmured into Finn’s ear as they walked.

“I’m just relieved to be able to save you from something that doesn’t involve getting shot at for once,” Finn said, while Poe rubbed circles on Finn’s hip.

-

The planet was humid and rainy and Finn’s shirt was sticking to him. Branches kept snapping back into his face as he ran and his cheeks stung with numerous tiny scratches.

None of that mattered. All that mattered was getting to Poe.

“Can you hear me, Poe?” Finn said as he ran. “Keep talking to me, babe, please.”

“Finn,” came Poe’s voice through the comlink, weak and full of static.

“That’s good, Poe, just let me hear you, okay? Stay with me, I’m almost there.”

“Love your voice.”

“Yeah, well, you’re gonna be stuck with hearing it for a long time. Forever, really, you’ll never get rid of it. Yeah, Poe?”

Poe hummed over the comm.

Finn’s heart was doing flips in his chest and nausea roiled in his belly. “I’m coming to you, baby, okay? Just stay with me. Please keep talking.”

He didn’t get much more out of Poe, some incoherent mumbling every so often, but Finn never stopped talking. Just nonsense, mostly, reassurance, so Poe could hear his voice and know he was on his way. He didn’t know if it helped but he hoped it gave Poe some comfort, and he hoped it gave him something to concentrate on.

He saw the smoke billowing up from Poe’s ship in the distance, some time before he actually made it to the crash site. He was glad it wasn’t _Black One,_ because he knew how much Poe would mourn the loss of it later.

Because there would definitely be a later, a time when Poe could regret losing a ship. Because Poe was going to be fine.

Finn came crashing out of the brush, calling Poe’s name, his heart skipping a beat when he finally saw him. Poe had crawled out of the wreck of his ship to lean against a rock nearby, clutching the portable comm device from his ship. His skin was abnormally ashen and his eyes were closed.

Finn fell to his knees in the dirt beside him. “Poe! Poe, please.” Poe’s pulse fluttered beneath Finn’s questing fingers and the relief that flooded through Finn was almost overwhelming.

“F-Finn,” Poe murmured, his eyes cracking open to slits.

“I’m here, baby, everything will be fine. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” Finn’s breath caught at the burns he could see over Poe’s torso, the blood soaking through his pants where he seemed to have gashed his leg.

His fingers fumbled at the catch of his medbag but he got it open, rummaging through the contents as he spoke into the comlink. “Rey, I’ve got him,” Finn said. “He needs medical.”

The relief in Rey’s voice came across clearly. “I’ll get them to you.”

“You’re gonna be fine, baby,” Finn said, pressing a bacta patch to Poe’s skin. “You’re gonna be fine.”

-

Doctor Kalonia let Finn hover in the infirmary while Poe was tended to, in and out of the bacta tank. She let him sit by Poe’s bedside as Poe slept, holding his hand.

“You won’t even notice I’m here,” Finn had promised, and he’d done his best to make that true.

He assumed he had succeeded well enough because no one told him to leave. Rey brought him something to eat a couple of times and sat with him, watching Poe. Once Finn dozed off on her shoulder but his sleep was fitful and he didn’t feel any more rested when he woke.

The only thing that helped was when Poe regained consciousness enough to look at Finn with recognition in his eyes, to squeeze his hand weakly and smile tiredly.

“That’s enough of the damsel-ing now, Poe,” Finn said, leaning forward to press his lips to Poe’s forehead. “I’ve had enough of rescuing you for a lifetime.”

“Your face is the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Poe told him, a bit loopy from the drugs he was on but so, so genuine. His hand settled lightly on the back of Finn’s neck. “You always come when I need you.”

“Yeah,” Finn said. “Yeah, always.” He stayed there, leaning in, breathing in the smell of Poe’s skin, like bacta and the sterile scent of the infirmary. _I love you, I love you,_ he thought, _I want this forever._

-

“Finn!” Rey shouted.

Finn looked over to her, startled by her wide eyes and flushed cheeks. “What’s wrong? Rey, what is it?”

“Can you come to the hangar bay? It’s Poe.”

His heart thumping in his chest, Finn was already running. “What’s wrong with Poe? Is he okay?”

“You’d better see,” Rey said, and Finn ran faster. He knew if Poe was in real danger Rey would tell him, but he couldn’t help the way his stomach was turning over.

But in the hangar bay, Poe was just sitting perched atop _Black One,_ legs dangling. His eyes met Finn’s across the room and he gave a tiny wave. “Hey, pal.”

Finn shoved Rey weakly towards a group of pilots, clearly in on the joke, Snap and Jess forefront among them. “Aw, man, you could’ve told me.”

“Ruins the fun,” Rey teased, laughter shining in her eyes. “You’re adorable when you get protective.”

“But I do need some rescuing,” Poe called down, pointing to a spot partway between _Black One_ and Finn. “I know you said you were done with it but I dropped something, babe, can you get it for me?”

“Should make you get it yourself,” Finn said, but he was crouching down anyway, eyes scanning the floor until a shimmer caught his eye.

Oh. Oh, damn.

Finn picked up the simple ring, the one Poe usually wore on a chain around his neck. It was his mother’s. It rested lightly in Finn’s palm, a comforting weight.

Finn looked up at Poe, observing the way he was gnawing at his lip. “You asshole,” he accused, with no heat in it.

“You wanna keep rescuing me forever?” Poe asked, the smallest trace of nerves in his voice.

“This is the worst proposal ever,” Finn said, but he held his arms out.

Poe jumped down and let Finn catch him, swinging him around before his feet settled on the floor. “So… is that a no then?”

Shara Bey’s ring was indenting into Finn’s palm as he watched her ridiculous, ridiculous son, whom he loved more than anything. “No, it’s not a no, you kriffing nerf herder. Of course it’s a fucking yes,” he said.

Finn pulled Poe closer and kissed him senseless, as Rey and the pilots surrounding them broke into obnoxious cheers and wolf-whistles. Playing into the show, Finn spread his hand over Poe’s lower back and dipped him towards the ground.

Poe was laughing and breathless when they straightened. “I’ll be your damsel anytime, sweetheart,” he said, his smile wide and brilliant.

“You’re so kriffing lame,” Finn said, and kissed Poe again.


End file.
